


Bring Me the Night

by inkandwords



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, happy bday sachi!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 12:28:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14044278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkandwords/pseuds/inkandwords
Summary: In the beginning, Levi had tried to keep his distance, to keep Eren from getting too familiar, from getting inside his head. But he should’ve known better. Finds himself hating the old adage “time makes the heart grow fonder” because something so cliche and disgustingly sappy is exactly the case with Eren. He remembers all too-well how that ended for him the first time around.A reincarnation AU.





	Bring Me the Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaijoskopycat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaijoskopycat/gifts).



> Happy (super belated) born day, **[Sachipants](http://kaijoskopycat.tumblr.com)**! You asked for EreRi angst and I might have gotten a little carried away. haha. Thank you for being my person. ♥ 
> 
> Also for **[@ererievents](http://ererievents.tumblr.com)** combined prompts: w1-flirting, w2-dining, w3-affection/hands/touch, and w4-commitment/reciprocation/confession, as well as Forgetfulness, the March prompt from **[@ereri-writing-prompts](http://ereri-writing-prompts.tumblr.com)**. 
> 
> Inspired by **[these](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3CQ1o30GQY)** **[three](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25_1ZCzPTR0)** **[songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-lp2bejhm4)**.

“You need to make an appointment to go to the DMV,” Hanji rattles off, reading down the never-ending list of things Levi has yet to do, but can never seem to find the time to complete, “and I’ve rescheduled your haircut for the second time this week. You might also want to take your car in to have the brakes fixed; otherwise you’re going to end up splattered in the middle of the center divider on the freeway. Did you remember to water your plants before we left for New York?”

“They’re dead anyway,” Levi says without taking his eyes off his phone, the email he’s just received from the Los Angeles marketing team making his fingers itch for his laptop so he can work over corrections to the proposal they no doubt screwed up. “What does it matter if I water them?”

“Haircut?”

“Make an appointment for when we land, but if they take longer than twenty minutes, I’m walking out.”

Hanji snorts. “That’ll go over well with Erwin if you show up to the proposal meeting with half an undercut.”

“They all have their heads up their asses anyway. It’s not like any of those uptight morons are going to be paying attention. I get the job done. What the hell does it matter how I look doing it?”

“Says the one who ironed his suit twice before we left the hotel.”

“This is what I get for recommending you for that research position. I should get credit for this attention to detail crap you’re spewing right now, but instead I’m getting reminders about shit I don’t have time for.”

“Just because you don’t want to do them doesn’t mean you don’t need to do them,” Hanji says, ignoring Levi’s withering glance. “Besides, you know you’ll miss my attention to detail once your new assistant starts.”

“When’s that again?”

“Well, if you made the time to actually interview him instead of making me do it, you’d know the answer to that.” Hanji taps on her phone a few times and swipes through her calendar. “He’ll be at the office later today.”

“First day on the job and already slacking off,” Levi mutters with a slight roll of his eyes. “Where’d you dig up this brat?”

“Be nice, Captain. He had a doctor’s appointment and couldn’t cancel.” Hanji swipes through a few more things on her phone before she holds up the screen for Levi to see. “And you never know, he might surprise you. Smart kid, likeable, even if he is a little eager.”

“Fuck off, shitty four-eyes. I told you to stop calling me that.”

“I’m a little nostalgic, what can I say?”

“Erwin never has to put up with this shit.”

“Not to his face. What the Commander doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Hanji replies, throwing her head back and cackling. With a tired sigh, Levi chances a look at her phone and nearly drops the cup of piss trying to masquerade as airplane coffee he’s holding. Staring back at him are a pair of bright green eyes he remembers well, flecks of gold visible even in the grainy photograph, and the hint of a smile that’s haunted him in every life he’s ever had since the first he can remember.

* * *

 

When Erwin Smith had recruited him into Sina Advertising, the sight of him was more than a little jarring. It had reminded Levi of their first meeting, a lingering taste of his initial distrust bubbling somewhere just beneath the surface. But just as it had been in past, he’s learned to move past it. Remembered how Erwin had earned his trust, his loyalty, in much the same way he’s earned it all over again after years of working together. Erwin remembered little of their first life together, though as time went on, bits and pieces began to click until the memories eventually returned and their loyalty to each other was once more cemented into their new reality.

Hanji, on the other hand, had met him with all her memories intact. In any case, this made it easier in a way. Maybe a violent death was a prerequisite for forgetting, a way to start over fresh; a clean slate. Levi generally carried a stark recollection of all his past lives, the friends he’d lost and found along the way paving a road filled with some introspection and more than his share of guilt. He’s wondered, at times, if he is being punished by having to remember their deaths, the part he’s played in them. Maybe it’s for outliving them all, dying peacefully in his sleep when so many others would never see old age. He’s resigned himself to carrying that weight, just like he’d done when Isabel and Farlan were the first to go. Even having them around now, just as close, as comfortable as they’d always been, doesn’t make the guilt he’d felt any less heavy than the first time they’d died.

Which brings him back to the image on Hanji’s phone.

Eren Jaeger.

He berates himself for not being more involved in the hiring process, especially since whomever would be his assistant would doubtless spend considerable time in his company. But like everything else, he’d trusted Hanji. He thinks that now, that might not have been the wisest choice.

“You should have told me it was him.”

“And what? Miss that look on your face? What fun is that? Come on, Levi,” Hanji says, brimming with glee, her glasses slightly askew and balanced on the tip of her nose. “I know you remember.”

“That’s the goddamn point, isn’t it?” Levi sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose with a frown. “I remember everything. You remember, too. You should’ve known better.”

“I do know better,” Hanji says sagely. “I also know you’ve pushed away anyone who’s ever tried to get close to you that way. You cared about him. Still do, from where I’m standing. And you both deserve another chance where one of you doesn’t die. That, I also know.” She places a hand on his shoulder, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “Isn’t it time you forgave yourself?”

“Isn’t it time you minded your own goddamn business?”

Hanji hums to herself and goes back to whatever she’s doing on her phone. Levi secretly wishes Eren doesn’t remember a thing.

* * *

 

Aside from the bouts of turbulence that had Levi holding Hanji at arm’s length to keep her from toppling into his lap, their flight lands back in Los Angeles without much trouble. Levi is busy going through the presentation for his morning meeting when Hanji suddenly jabs an elbow into his ribcage, halting just shy of the Arrivals gate. This earns her a scowl, though when Levi glances up to tell her off, he catches a glimpse of the reason why and nearly drops his phone in surprise.

Eren stands there with some suit holding a sign showing Levi’s name, nervously shifting his leather satchel on his shoulder as he tentatively grins in their direction. Levi’s throat goes dry, but he pulls himself together and keeps his expression impassive as he and Hanji make their way over, the suit taking their luggage and leading them out to where the car service is waiting.

Eren is taller than Levi remembers, pushing close to 185 centimeters at least. There are other similarities Levi remembers as well, other physical qualities Levi had been intimately familiar with, but he shoves those memories aside. Stuffs them back into the past where they belong.

“Levi, don’t think you’ve met your new assistant yet,” Hanji says by way of greeting, offering Eren an enthusiastic pat on the back before throwing Levi a knowing look when Eren reaches out to shake Levi’s hand and offers him the cup of coffee he’s holding with the other.

“I found you,” he says, a little breathless, eyes shining with a flash of familiarity, and Levi recognizes the same expression from a different time. Eren manages to look sheepish when Levi deadpans at him. “I mean, here. At the airport. Not like… in general. Or anything. ‘Cause that’d be weird. Um, right.” He chuckles nervously, hand still outstretched. “Nice to finally meet you, Le--” He pauses and clears his throat. “Mr. Ackerman, sir.”

Levi feels a jolt at the initial greeting, a sense of vertigo like the ground has suddenly begun to move and forgot to tell him about it. But it passes as quickly as it’d come, and he hopes he’s caught it in time to keep from anyone noticing.

“This coffee’d better be scalding or your ass is fired,” Levi says before he walks ahead of Eren and Hanji and goes back to reviewing the presentation notes, coffee in hand. The beverage is center-of-the-sun hot and made just the way Levi likes it. He’s glad, at least, that Hanji had enough sense to start the kid off in the right direction. “And drop the ‘sir’ crap.”

“I should probably have told you to carry hand sanitizer wherever you go. He’s really particular about… cleanliness,” she explains in a low voice. Eren must have answered her with a look because she says, “you’ll get used to it. He’s a hardass about a lot of things, but stick with him a while and you’ll definitely go places, kiddo.”

“I know,” Eren murmurs and there’s a hint of affection there that seems out of place, that makes Levi wonder.

He ignores it and downs the rest of the coffee to distract himself.

Eren sits between Levi and Hanji on their way back to the office, Hanji filling what would have been an otherwise uncomfortable silence with talk of Eren’s new duties once they reach their destination. She hands over a particularly large folder overflowing with documents that don’t seem to have any sort of organization and, when Eren attempts to gather them together to take a look, end up scattering on the floor. In Eren’s embarrassed haste, he bends to gather them and brushes a bare hand against Levi’s fingers. The touch sends another jarring jolt through him, causes a palpable shudder when another memory hits, makes him shut his eyes to force it away. But it’s too late. When the memory finally ebbs, it’s done its work, leaving traces of a kiss against Levi’s lips that he’s tried to forget. He chances a look at Eren and quickly shifts his gaze when he sees the confusion in Eren’s eyes, hears the hitch of his breath. He says nothing, even though he’s almost sure Eren has just experienced the same exact memory.

Hanji seems to have noticed as well and he glares at her, wanting to wipe that knowing smugness off her shitty face. He suddenly feels cold, pinpricks of ice against his skin like shards intent on embedding themselves there as reminders of what was, what could still be. When they reach the towering building of Sina Advertising, Levi beelines for his office and shuts the door.

He doesn’t come out the remainder of the day.

* * *

 

Despite Levi’s reservations about working with Eren, it turns out the kid has a knack for advertising. He’s intuitive, pays close attention to everything Levi does, asks questions when he’s supposed to (and oftentimes, even when he isn’t). While Levi is still hard-pressed to believe this arrangement would work in any long term scenario, he can’t help the way Eren draws him in, makes him wish for something he knows he doesn’t deserve.

In the beginning, he’d tried to keep his distance, to keep Eren from getting too familiar, from getting inside his head. But he should’ve known better. Finds himself hating the old adage “time makes the heart grow fonder” because something so cliche and disgustingly sappy is exactly the case with Eren. He remembers all too-well how that ended for him the first time around.

“Jaeger,” Levi barks into the intercom. He hadn’t meant to sound as foul-tempered, though by now, Eren is used to the moods, has learned to work around the snapped requests and distracted silences. “Get your ass in here. And bring the account proposals for next week’s trip.”

Eren doesn’t respond, but a minute later, Levi’s door nudges open, Eren widening the gap with his hip while he tries to keep the large stack he’s carrying from littering Levi’s pristine floor. He plucks the cup of coffee from the top of the stack and sets it down next to Levi, dropping the empty cup he’s replaced into the wastebin by the desk. “Where do you want these?”

“Over there,” Levi says, eyes glued to the artboard changes he’s in the middle of fixing while he points a proofing pencil in the general direction of the small conference table inside the office. Eren complies. Levi is about to ask him to pull one of the most recent revisions when his gaze flickers over the time on his computer screen. Tiredly, he scrubs his eyes, loosens his tie, and makes to ruck his sleeves up only to find they’re already folded neatly just beneath his elbows. _Don’t remember doing that. Must be losing my fucking mind._ With a quiet groan, he slumps back in his seat, too exhausted to muster up the strength for a well-deserved stretch. “You should’ve told me how late it was. Didn’t you have somewhere you had to be?”

“Just dinner,” Eren replies, his eyes lingering on Levi before he hastily averts them, stacking the proposals in order by most recent revision--just how Levi likes it. The way Eren looks at him doesn’t go unnoticed; admittedly, it never does, even if Levi has tried to act as though it doesn’t rip right through him like lightning in his chest, like he hasn’t stolen a few glances of his own. He raises an eyebrow, prompting Eren to continue as Eren flips open the top folder and begins to rifle through the files. “I called them a couple of hours ago and rescheduled. No big.”

“Starving to death isn’t going to get you out of presenting for tomorrow’s meeting.”

Eren shrugs and grins. “Can’t blame a guy for tryin’, right? Honestly, I’m kinda nervous about it.”

“Don’t be. I wouldn’t have given it to you if I didn’t think you were ready.”

“If you say so,” Eren says, biting the edge of his lip in a way that should have been innocent, but distracting all the same. “Anyway, it’s okay, I can grab fast food on my way home.”

“Like hell you can.” Levi shuts his computer down and gathers up his jacket and coat before motioning for Eren to follow. “Come on. My ass isn’t getting any younger.”

“But it’s kinda late,” Eren protests, though Levi doesn’t buy it, especially when Eren’s stomach chooses that moment to retaliate with an audible growl, “and I thought you’d wanna get home ”

“You’re still on the clock.” Then, because Eren still looks hesitant, “I could use the company anyway.”

“Technically I’m always on the clock,” Eren says with a chuckle, though he visibly brightens at Levi’s latter comment. “Is that you asking me to non work-related dinner?”

“Don’t push it, kid.”

“You know, you don’t have to keep calling me ‘kid’. I’m only a few years younger than you--”

“Eight is more than a few years. Did they not teach you how to count at that overpriced millenial shithole you call a university?”

Eren shrugs, deflating a little but still holding his ground. “If you wanna get technical, I guess. Still… ‘kid’ makes me sound like-- nevermind. Anyway, I can at least bring the revisions that were done today? I really don’t mind.”

“You can finish up tomorrow. Or are your ears fucking defective now?” Levi asks with a heavy sigh, shouldering the door and waiting until Eren has passed through before he locks his office. “Spare me the bullshit and just do what I tell you for once.”

To Levi’s surprise, Eren tries, unsuccessfully, to stifle a laugh. When he realizes his mistake, he puts his hands up and grins. “Sorry! That didn’t--I mean--um--”

Levi deadpans. “What?”

With a shrug, Eren manages to look both as apologetic as he is amused. “Even when you’re trying to do something nice, it’s like you can’t manage to actually _be_ nice about it. Not that you’re not nice. Ish.”

“Nice… ish.” Levi blinks. “You can always quit.” It’s an empty threat, of course. One Levi uses many times whenever Eren says something Levi doesn’t want to deal with. And as always, Eren shakes his head and laughs it off, bright green eyes displaying a fondness that slices through Levi’s insides like the guilt he hasn’t been able to shake off.

“Nothin’ doin’. Who needs nice when I have Levi Ackerman trying to force feed me so I won’t starve to death? And anyway, not like I’m going anywhere. You’re pretty much stuck with me.”

“Remind me why again?”

“‘Cause great company perks and pretty awesome nice-ish boss. Besides, admit it. You’d miss me.” Eren adds, grin turning cheeky, “I have it on good authority that I am excellent company.”

“Didn’t realize ‘excellent’ was synonymous with ‘shitty’,” Levi mutters without any bite. He realizes he’s so hungry now that if Eren doesn’t hurry up, he might actually just leave him behind. But even as the thought finishes, he’s holding the door for Eren anyway before they trek toward the nearest restaurant a few blocks down that still serves food at all hours.

The place is packed, even as late as it is, and they manage to snag a booth near the back kitchen. It’s more noisy than Levi can normally tolerate and the table is filthy from its previous patrons, but it’s one of Eren’s favorite places to eat and Levi thinks some things might be worth enduring if only to see him this relaxed, this comfortable. (Like they used to be, he thinks a little sadly, before he remembers himself and shoves the thought away with a scowl.)

“Something’s wrong. You’re making that face again.”

“What face?”

“The--what was it you called it again?--oh, right! The constipated face.”

Levi blinks, but the food arrives and it’s just as well. He wouldn’t be able to explain it anyway. He waits to start eating, nurses his drink instead and savors the burn it trails down his throat before it settles warmly in his belly. Eren says his thanks, devouring the first few bites of food as though they’re his last. Levi watches him, regards him with a silent interest that might have been mistaken as cold to anyone else who hasn’t taken the time to know him. But Eren has, and in turn, his eyebrow shoots up, eyes glinting mischievously, before he grins wide, food still half-chewed in his mouth and earning him a look of disgust.

“What the actual fuck, kid. You kiss your mother with that filthy mouth?”

“Yeah,” Eren mumbles around another mouthful, still teasing. “I kiss other people with it, too, and they don’t seem to mind either. ‘Sides, you should talk. Your mouth’s not exactly clean, you know.”

“Whatever gets you off, I guess,” Levi says, attempting not to focus on an image of Eren kissing anyone in whatever state his mouth was in. Then, before he can stop himself, “explains why your only relationship is with your right hand.”

Eren takes no offense, however, and pauses to inhale half his bottle of beer. “And my left,” he says jokingly wiggling his fingers before gripping the bottle again, “I’m ambidextrous.”

“Duly noted.” He tries not to think about what Eren does with those ambidextrous hands. Instead he shifts the conversation to something he hopes would distract his thoughts from going into territory that’s decidedly south of the border. “But seriously, kid. You should get out more. Date someone other than your hand.”

“By choice,” he says, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, much to Levi’s dismay. “I’m single by choice ‘cause I’m pretty sure the person I’m into has no interest in me. Way outta my league.” Eren shrugs, the corners of his mouth turning down in a subtle way only Levi would notice. For a brief moment, he has the sudden urge to hit something and he’s not exactly sure why. “‘Sides, I spend all my time with you at work, so trying to fit in a relationship is kinda pointless right now anyway.”

“That’s a pretty shitty life, if you ask me.”

“Hey, at least I’m never alone on a Friday night, right? And anyway, you don’t date either,” Eren shoots back, but has the mind to look somewhat apologetic for the bold statement. It only lasts a split second before the defiance returns in his gaze and Levi is forced to remember Eren’s stubborn willfulness with a nostalgic twinge in his chest. “Sorry, but you brought it up first! Sometimes I wonder about that. It’s not like you don’t have options--”

Levi presses fingers into his temples and briefly shuts his eyes, the headache he’s been trying to stave off beginning to throb again. “Yeah, we’re not fucking going there.”

“But it’s true! People at the office talk about you. Mostly about how they want to talk _to_ you, but you’re not exactly the warm, chatty type--”

“What are you, _Tinder, Office Edition_? If I swipe your face, will you shut the fuck up?”

“I even told Armin that maybe people just need a chance to get to know you--”

“Ever occur to you that maybe I don’t want to get to know them? My private life’s not up for discussion,” Levi snaps, but because Eren looks so sincere, he sighs and reluctantly adds, “look, I appreciate the initiative, even if it is stupid and pointless. There is someone. _Was_ someone. A while back. So no. I don’t date. Change the fucking subject.”

“Ever?”

“Ever.”

“Oh.” For a second, Eren looks almost disappointed and some part of Levi, the part that wars with the rational side... _hopes_. But it’s gone in a flash and Eren’s expression shifts, the realization dawning. Then something else replaces it, something indignant, maybe even protective. “That sucks!” He bites the ends of his chopsticks, thoughtful. “His loss, though. Kinda makes me wanna kick his ass, whoever it is.”

Levi laughs at that. “You know what, kid? He’d probably say the same exact thing.”

 

~***~

 

Some time (and more than a few beers) later, Levi manages to work the app on his phone well enough to get himself an Uber. He sways a little as he waits in front of the restaurant, ends up unintentionally leaning against Eren in the process. The familiarity of it, the sudden proximity, jolts something in the haze of his brain and for a second, he’s railed by a particularly jarring memory. The one he’s tried to keep buried as deep as it would let him. Eren’s voice breaks through the fog, clears it, and Levi blinks. Wonders how he ended up taking a knee on the dirty sidewalk when he distinctly remembers being upright only seconds ago.

“Car’s here,” Eren says, bending down and sliding Levi’s arm over his shoulder. He grunts as he leverages his weight to bring Levi to his feet. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

Once he manages to stuff himself into the back of the sedan, he reaches over to shut the door and is surprised when Eren slides in next to him. “...the fuck’re y’doin’?”

“Getting you home,” Eren responds, before leaning forward to give the driver Levi’s address. When he sinks back against the leather seat, Levi fights against the heaviness and mutters obscenities under his breath for having been stupid enough to lose count of how much he’s had to drink.

Conversation with Eren had been easy, reminiscent of how it used to be, and despite his guarded reservations, he’d let himself enjoy it. Even if instinct fought him tooth and nail for a peaceful meal for once. Lost in his own thoughts, it isn’t until they’ve stopped in front of his apartment that he finds he’s slumped against Eren, an arm shouldered around him to keep him from likely planting his face in Eren’s lap. He’s close enough to smell the lingering hint of whatever laundry detergent Eren uses and the familiar sporty scent of his cologne.

“Are you okay to get out of the car? You’re not gonna throw up or anything, right?”

Levi glowers in his general direction and gives him a nudge towards the door. He grunts something unintelligible which Eren takes as confirmation that he’s able to at least extract himself from the vehicle without making a complete idiot of himself. Again, he’s surprised when Eren shuts the door, taps the roof to signal the driver to leave, and follows him up to the building. The doorman gives them both a small salute as they make their way in and Levi belatedly wonders how many times Eren’s come over that building personnel doesn’t bat an eye at seeing him even as late as it is.

Levi is certain he’s going to regret the decision in the morning, but Eren did make sure he got home with most of his dignity intact, so he clears his throat when they reach the door to his apartment. “You can stay here tonight. Early meeting in the morning and don’t want you using this as an excuse to come in late,” he says, fighting to keep the slur away. He doesn’t look at Eren’s face, doesn’t trust himself not to do something that would blur the lines more than they already have, and instead tries to stick the key in the wrong lock only to succeed in finally getting his door open on the third try.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Why not? ‘S not the first time you’ve slept here.”

“Yeah, I know. But,” Eren pauses and Levi makes the mistake of glancing over just in time to catch Eren bite his lip, “it’s… different.”

Levi echoes the sentiment, but he’s exhausted and trying to argue his invitation only makes the situation more awkward. He purposely tries to keep himself from looking at Eren’s mouth again, tries to fight the temptation to do something that will doubtless earn him a few more rumors on top of the ones already circulating about them in the office. He keeps his gaze level with Eren’s instead. “Suit yourself. Not gonna drag you in here if you don’t want to. I’m going to b--”

It takes a second to register Eren’s hand along his jaw, fingertips causing a prickling sensation when it brushes against the shaved skin of his undercut. Then Eren leans in and, despite his brain sending out all the warning signs detailing how fucked he’s going to be and how there’s no turning back from this, Levi meets him the rest of the way. Allows himself one moment of reprieve and feels something clench in his chest when Eren lets out a shaky breath before pressing their lips together. The kiss is surprisingly gentle considering the amount of alcohol he’s consumed, sweet and familiar and making him ache in a way he hasn’t allowed himself to feel in a very long time. He doesn’t know how long he lingers there, doesn’t recall his hand coming up to grasp Eren’s wrist. But even in this state, he commits it to memory, stores it away for when the past tries to sneak up on him and he has to anchor himself with the good memories to keep himself afloat.

When Eren pulls away, he wears a tentative grin, exhales an embarrassed chuckle. Rests his forehead against Levi’s for a brief moment and says, “I want to. I really, really do.” He pauses and lets out a quiet groan. “God, you have no idea. But... not like this.” Then he’s pulling away and with a reluctant glance over his shoulder, says, “I won’t be late tomorrow, promise. Get some rest, okay?”

And then he’s gone, leaving Levi to restless dreams and haunting images so visceral he uses the lingering memory of the kiss to tether him down and keep him from drifting away.

* * *

 

They don’t talk about the kiss the next day or the days following. Instead, Eren somehow ends up repeating what had happened in front of Levi’s apartment behind the locked door of Levi’s office, pressed against the wall where no one can walk by and glimpse them through the frosted glass. Whatever reservations Eren has had disappeared that first night and though Levi knows this time is different, this time there’s no way in hell they’d end up in the same predicament as they did before when monsters burned and the world burned with them, he still can’t shake off the guilt. The responsibility. Can’t get rid of the memory of Eren’s face when he’d taken his last breath, the blood dripping off Levi’s utility blade before he’d sank to the ground holding Eren’s lifeless body against him.

It always ends with Levi abruptly pulling away, leaving Eren wanting and bewildered, the hurt cut across his expression like bright neon lights, glaring and obvious and painfully transparent. He tries to talk himself out of whatever it is growing like some sort of inevitable gale force storm between them until the next time he finds himself in the same position, drowning and gasping for breath in every heated kiss, Eren’s touch like a memory brand reigniting and searing a yearning in him so visceral he aches with it, even as reluctant as he is to let Eren go.

“You need to st--” Levi arches, white-knuckled grip clamped on the armrests of his executive chair so tightly he’s half-afraid he’s going to rip them right off. His breath hitches and he glances down reproachfully, eyes at half-mast while he watches Eren mouth against his naked skin while long, relaxed fingers follow the heated trail in languid strokes.

Eren raises an eyebrow, teasing, and murmurs along Levi’s erect cock, “stop?”

Levi answers with a groan as Eren licks the precum off his leaking tip, his loose grasp tightening at the base before he swallows Levi whole.

“Hhh… fuck…do I even wanna know where the hell you learned how to do th--”

Eren chuckles, keeps his eyes locked with Levi’s while he bobs his head, and moans around him in response. They find a rhythm, breaths loud and groans filling the semi-silence with no one left in the office to hear them. With a fractured sigh as he nears the edge, Levi threads through Eren’s hair and manages a grip as Eren uses his mouth to take Levi apart. Slowly, purposefully, Levi falls as he loses all control.

* * *

 

“Are we ever gonna talk about this?” Eren asks one night, chopsticks poised mid-air as he gives Levi a cursory glance over a late dinner hunched together in Levi’s office.

“No,” comes the response before Levi leans over the boxes of take-out sushi and kisses Eren stupid until the conversation is forgotten again, buried deep where it attempts to claw out while Levi tries to pretend it doesn’t exist.

Later that night, Eren wakes up screaming in Levi’s bed and, before Levi can reach out, to see what sort of demons he’s managed to pull from his nightmares this time, Eren barricades himself in the bathroom, sobs muffled behind the closed door. Levi sits on the opposite side, head tilted back against the wood, gaze fixed on the curtain rod of his bedroom window. He really needs to get new curtains. Ones that probably don’t resemble the color of shit.

“Are you okay?” he asks after a while, waiting until the sobs have subsided to nothing more than scattered hiccups.

It takes Eren some time to answer, but when he does, his voice is small, feeble. Unlike the Eren Levi has always known, in this life or the last.

“Yeah. Just a bad dream.”

When Eren emerges some time later, Levi is still alert, instantly on his feet as he scans Eren’s face for any signs that the dream is more than he’s letting on. But whatever Levi is waiting for doesn’t come. Eren pads back into bed, his smile the same, as he waits for Levi to crawl in next to him. Their arms wind around each other and if it had been any other night, Levi is sure sleep wouldn’t have happened until they were spent in other ways.

But this time, with Eren tucked safely in his arms, they drift off, Levi’s hold secure against Eren, his hand pressed over a heartbeat he wants to make sure is still there.

* * *

 

The first time they fuck is in Levi’s hotel during a week-long trip to New York the night before their big presentation.

How it took this look is a goddamn miracle in itself, with how Eren manages to make Levi lose himself despite his stubborn need to keep an emotional distance. But alcohol and annoyance at having been made to attend the company’s charity ball made for a bad combination.

Levi had made the mistake of telling Petra’s father, one of the agency’s big-time contributors, that he was involved with someone once the old man had started his campaign to pass him off as some eligible bachelor for one of his crony acquaintances. An unnamed someone, if he remembers correctly, but by the time he’d had his fourth drink and had evaded the fifteenth time he’d been wheedled for information about his mysterious partner, Levi’s patience had reached its limit. Maybe it was a sign that Eren had appeared right then, a perfect scapegoat and believable lie (which technically wasn’t a lie), but Levi took it as a chance for escape when he pretended to be more inebriated than he really was and kissed Eren’s cheek in front of everyone before asking if he was ready to leave.

Eren had taken the cue, eyes widening a fraction, before an easy smile overshadowed his confusion once he seemed to take in what was going on. He’d gotten wrangled into shaking a few hands, endured some good-natured ribbing, before finally ushering Levi away to the sanctuary of his blissfully empty hotel room.

They’d never gone beyond a certain point before. They’d come close more times than Levi can remember, but always, always just on this side of the wall Levi had kept up to keep his sanity intact. But maybe it was gratitude for getting him out of an annoying predicament, or the way Eren had bit his lip, eyebrows drawn in when it dawned on him what they’d done. How people would look at them now.

“Maybe I should go back to my room tonight--” Eren had started while Levi tried to slip the keycard the right way in.

Levi had kissed him in response instead. They’d barely made it through the door before their hands were everywhere their mouths couldn’t reach, the question hanging between them unanswered.

It might have been nice to call it something else, to pretend they were making love or something equally tame and sweet and not something short of feral had Eren not driven him into the mattress with such single-minded focus that Levi was reminded of the grueling training he’d had to endure in the Survey Corps. He could have pretended, surely, had Eren not let him repay the favor in kind, multiple times, muscles tensed and bronze skin sticky and smelling of sweat and sex as he’d urged Levi on, moans echoing off the walls and filth whispered in Levi’s ear.

He could have pretended, sure. But he’s never been good at pretending anyway. Maybe, for once, he didn’t want to pretend at all.

Levi wakes the following morning with a dull ache in his lower back and a hangover conducting the pounding rhythm behind his eyelids. He forgets, for a moment, how he’s managed to get himself in this predicament, but when he hears the quiet snore next to him, the events from the night before come flooding back at sobering speed.

He opens bleary eyes, acclimating himself to the sight. Eren’s mouth is pressed up against the pillow he’s snuggled into, the visible corner quirked up into the hint of a smile. Levi wonders what he’s dreaming, hopes it’s better than the nightmares that sometimes keeps him up at night. He reaches out and brushes Eren’s hair off his face, fingertips lingering along the curve of his cheek with a heavy sigh.

Eren stirs, eyebrows gathering together with an airy groan. “Levi?” he says hesitantly, eyes still closed.

“Mm?”

With a sigh of relief, Eren opens his eyes, grin groggy but pleasantly surprised. “Oh good, I wasn’t dreaming.”

“Why would you think you were?”

Eren surprises him by ducking his head a fraction, chuckle sheepish. “Well, um, so I’ve been-” He pauses, hesitates as he plants his face into his hand, mumbling, “promise you won’t laugh?”

“How often does that happen anyway?”

“Fair point, but I meant more like ‘don’t judge me or make fun of me’”, Eren says, meeting Levi’s gaze and looking very much like he might regret saying what’s on his mind. When Levi deadpans at him, Eren continues, “The dreams I’ve been having…”

_Dreams…?_

“--About, um, you. And me. Us, I mean. Like nothing weird, but I dunno, like deja vu, I guess? Anyway, they get a little intense sometimes--”

_Shit._

“--So… um, yeah. I thought when I woke up this morning that, I don’t know, it might have been my hangover mixing everything up and maybe it wasn’t real ‘cause you know, you have _walls_ and _rules_ , and we hadn’t actually gone all the way and please don’t think it’s weird--” He exhales a sigh and bites the edge of his lip with a croaky little groan, eyes trained on Levi like he’s trying to gauge his reaction. “I just really liked waking up to you this morning.”

“Me, too” is what he wants to say, the words on the tip of his tongue. But all he manages is a lackluster, “yeah.”

Part of him wonders how long it would take Eren to remember what Levi had done, if he would remember at all. But another part, the part that hopes, that recognizes the innocence Eren embodies without being dragged down by the past - that part has tried very hard to prevent this exact thing from happening.

With a sharp exhale, Levi untangles himself from Eren’s long limbs, his lingering warmth, and moves toward the edge of the bed. His head bows into his open palms, fingers pressed against his hairline and massaging there for a few seconds before he rises from the bed.

“Levi?”

He hears the confusion in Eren’s voice, but doesn’t turn around. “Get dressed, kid. Meeting starts in an hour.”

* * *

 

“You had sex.”

Levi bristles at Hanji’s greeting and rolls his eyes in response. Isabel’s trying to hide her grin behind her coffee cup and Levi suddenly has the urge to maybe get new friends. “Something you’d be having more of if you weren’t so fucking busy sticking your nose in everyone else’s business.”

“You had _phenomenal_ sex,” Hanji reiterates, her expression much too amused for Levi’s current mood.

“Not why I called you both down here.”

Hanji waves her hand in the air. “Okay, okay. Right! Issues. His, not yours. Though we should probably revisit that because you look like utter shit--”

“Focus, shitty glasses.”

“Right, right… so,” Hanji prompts, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with a strategic middle finger, “he’s starting to remember.”

Levi ignores the gesture. “Looks like it.”

Hanji sighs. “How much?”

“Not that far.” A pause. “At least, it doesn’t seem like he’s remembered that I--” Levi scoffs and shakes his head, shoving the memory away. “I don’t think he would have let me--” He catches himself and redirects. “We wouldn’t have if he’d known it was my fault.”

“It was no one’s fault. You did what you had to do. What he asked you to do, in case you’d forgotten while you were wallowing through centuries of misplaced recycled guilt.” Then when Hanji takes in the way Levi flinches at the accusation, she prompts, a little more gently, “so he doesn’t know?”

“Don’t think so.” Levi takes a long drag and flicks the ash off his dying cigarette before handing it over to Isabel. “Maybe it’s better to keep it that way.”

“What are you going to do?” Isabel asks, her flaming red hair twisted up into twin buns and reminding Levi of a 90’s anime show he used to watch. Not that he’d ever admit to watching 90’s anime ever. A stream of smoke follows the question and, satisfied that the cigarette is completely done, she crushes the butt with her boot.

“Not kill him.”

“That’s a good start,” Hanji says, holding the door open for Isabel. “Are we still on for the bar crawl?”

“Only if he brings his boyfriend,” Isabel answers, her bright eyes trained on Levi, mouth quirked in a knowing grin.

“You’re both assholes.”

“So that’s a plus one for Big Bro?”

Levi takes a sip from his coffee cup, glancing at the passersby outside of the agency. His gaze drifts as he mulls over the question, staring at nothing in particular, the memory resurging as he forcibly disassociates.

* * *

 

He doesn’t come out of his office for the remainder of the day, despite Hanji’s wheedling and Isabel’s texts urging him to confront his fears, to take a leap of faith and try to be happy for once. Even Farlan has gotten involved, no doubt joining the pair at Isabel’s insistence, until Levi shuts off his phone entirely and shoves it into an unused drawer without sparing another thought.

When Levi emerges a short while later, Eren seems more skittish than usual, more unsure of what he’s supposed to be doing besides waiting for instructions. It isn’t like he can go anywhere, really, and with Levi’s unpredictable schedule, he’s usually not one to leave unless dismissed for the day.

Eren jumps from his desk, nearly knocking over the cup of coffee he’s managed to hand Levi as he paces himself with Levi’s shorter strides. There’s a certain tension there, and Levi guesses that Eren probably wants to talk about what happened, but doesn’t know where the boundary to that conversation lies.

Levi is about to pull him into an empty conference room en route to the elevator when Eren breaks the silence first. “Someone congratulated me in the hall earlier?” he says casually, eyes fixated on the folders he’s attempting to organize while simultaneously trying not to overtake Levi’s pace.

Levi steals a glance from his peripheral, eyebrow raised.

When there’s no reply, Eren clears his throat and continues, “and in the elevator bank, there were a few times today.” He tugs on his collar and almost drops everything he’s carrying when the elevator doors open, if not for Levi’s hand shooting out and keeping them in place. They shuffle in and Levi’s attention zeroes in on Eren’s mouth when he bites his lip in that nervous way Levi remembers well. “Apparently people think we’re actually dating?”

“I told Petra’s dad we were.”

“Why…would you do that?”

“To get him off my back so he’d stop trying to find someone for me after I told him I wasn’t going to date his daughter.”

“Oh.” There’s disappointment in Eren’s voice, a sting Levi can relate to. “Is that all?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Levi mutters under his breath, punching the button to the lobby much harder than he means to. He drags a hand over his face and exhales sharply, before tugging his gloves on. Then, without preamble, he opens the leather satchel and tips all the items in Eren’s arms into it before taking Eren’s hand as the elevator doors open. In a stroke of luck, Levi’s preemptive action makes it that much easier to keep the lie that isn’t technically a lie alive when they run into Petra’s father in the lobby. He gives Eren’s hand a squeeze. “Play along,” he murmurs and directs his attention to their unexpected guest.

Ten minutes later and considerably more exhausted than he had been before he’d gotten off the elevator, Levi and Eren finally manage to slide into the company car waiting curbside to take them back to the hotel.

“So are we?” Eren prompts without preamble as soon as Levi shuts the door.

“Did you forget how to speak in full sentences or am I supposed to pull out some magical mind reading shit?”

“Dating,” Eren clarifies, clearly not willing to let it go. “Are we dating now? That would’ve been really good to know ‘cause I thought we were just--”

“Screwing each other into the mattress?”

“Well-- I mean, I thought you said you don’t date and I don’t want you to pretend if you don’t--”

“Don’t what, exactly?”

Eren shrugs and sinks back into the seat, biting his lip and looking a little unsure of himself. “Feel the same way.”

Levi scrubs a hand down the length of his face and sighs, heavy and a little exasperated. He leans forward, arms braced against his knees before he turns his head toward Eren, expression blank. “So you’re telling me how I feel now?”

“That’d be a lot easier if I _knew_ how you felt.” Eren shuts his eyes for a second and exhales slow and steady before he shakes his head and matches Levi’s position, eyes meeting Levi’s. “Just when I think you’re starting to open up, you shut down. Shut me out. Like I did something wrong or maybe that you regretted it. Being with me. Even though you’re not actually _with_ me.” His jaw clenches and he grinds his teeth in frustration. “I don’t know what you want from me. I’m only telling you how I feel and repeating what you told me. If you don’t want me here--”

“Except you didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“Tell me.”

Eren snorts. “I thought I was being pretty obvious. But if I say it out loud, it makes it real. And you don’t want it to be real. Right?”

“You don’t know what you’re asking for, kid.”

“I’m not some fucking kid, no matter how many times you keep calling me one!” Eren explodes, equally exasperated. “You think I don’t remember,” he grinds out, voice thick and a little desperate, watching Levi intently as though he’s searching for clues in his expression. “You think all I have to go off of is how I feel now, that what? This is some stupid thing I have for you and I don’t know any better? Maybe it helps you to pretend I’m still some punk kid so you don’t have to admit that you actually _feel_ something. But I feel it. Every fucking day, I feel it. And I’m done pretending like I don’t.”

“Eren--”

“No! You don’t get it. You said the same thing to me, too, before. The first time I confessed in your office after one of our training sessions. ‘ _Stay, just for the night_ ’, you used to say ‘cause I remember being so wrapped up in you that you never wanted it to end, that always, always the next day could be the last and you just…” Eren buries his face in his hands and sucks in a breath, voice ragged and raw and broken with the recollection now. “When I brought it up this morning, I was trying to see if you remembered. If some part of you remembers how you and I make sense. ‘Cause we do and I don’t care if I have to keep trying to get you to see it ‘til I’m blue in the face, but we do. We make so much sense and sometimes, it’s like you’re the only thing that does. You told me to forget it then, too, remember? And I didn’t ‘cause by then it was too fucking late--”

But Eren doesn’t finish, the rambling words catching in his throat when Levi moves close enough to tilt Eren’s face toward him, to feel the warmth of Eren’s sudden exhale. Levi’s eyes dart down and sees Eren press his lips together as he visibly swallows, gaze wide with surprise. “Shut up,” he mutters, and there’s a beat of clarity between them, a split second where everything suspends, understanding forms, and before he can second-guess himself, he’s angling his head and kissing Eren. He leans back and tugs Eren toward him, on top of him, arms circling around Eren’s neck and hands sweeping up to cradle the back of his head. “Don’t you ever…just...shut...the...fuck...up?”

They stay that way, the kiss losing its urgency in favor of the quiet intimacy that buries itself inside Levi’s chest, makes everything clench and ache with the memory of how they were, of what they are now. Uncomfortable as their positions are in the backseat of the car, Levi can’t seem to find it in himself to care when Eren burrows against him, nose pressed against his neck, warmth whispered against his skin, “stop pushing me away. I’ve finally found you again and I’m not going anywhere. Not ever. I just--”

“You remember?”

“Yeah.”

“Since when?”

“Since always.” Eren exhales against him, his breath tickling and making goosebumps rise along Levi’s arms.

“Then you remember what I did.”

“What I asked you to do, yeah. Wait, is that why you--”

Levi figures it’s no use skirting around it now. “Yeah.”

“It was never your fault. You know that, right?”

Levi presses a kiss against Eren’s crown and sighs, absently threading through his hair. He lifts Eren’s hand, palm to palm, and gently slots their fingers together. “Stay,” he murmurs.

“Where else would I go?”

They reach the hotel and reluctantly extract themselves from the car. The driver pulls away and they stand there, foreheads anchored and arms wrapped around each other in the quiet night, and Levi is hit with startling clarity that no matter how much he tries to push back, Eren’s pull will always be stronger. Like the moon who commands even the strongest of tides.

“I should call,” Eren whispers after a while, his hands a familiar weight against the small of Levi’s back. “Let Mika and Armin know everything’s good. They’ve been worrying.”

“Stay, just for the night,” Levi offers, not wanting to let go now that he’s realized there’s really no where else he’d rather be than right where he is. “Tell them tomorrow.”

Eren smiles, briefly pressing their lips together with muffled assent. “Mm, I could.”

“Stay,” Levi says again, and he’s reminded of the first time he’d uttered the word; a different place in a different time. He feels lighter, feels a weight lift when Eren releases him, grin wide and eyes bright.

“I love you, you know.”

The street is empty and silent and Levi watches Eren step away and off the curb, expression a little giddy and his arms outstretched like he’s trying to capture the moment between them, the enormity of it. He isn’t sure how long he watches Eren that way, a little amused and shaking his head at how ridiculous he looks in the middle of the street like some idiot in love right out of a cheesy rom-com, before bright lights round the corner so suddenly that he has no time to react. No time to do anything but watch as the impact obliterates the fleeting happiness and replaces it with a fear he remembers well, a cold sense of dread he thought he would never feel again. He lurches forward on instinct, whips his arms out like they would shield Eren from the creak of metal, the crunch of bones, the shatter of glass. Like he could protect him in a way he couldn’t before.

When the screech of brakes pierces the silence and the beam from the vehicle’s headlights skid to a halting stop, the driver jumps out, frantic and terrified, and Levi stares at the unmoving form in the middle of the street as his heart and stomach collide.

Eren doesn’t get up.

* * *

 

The beeps from the monitors wake Levi, his head snapping up when the nurses and doctors usher into Eren’s hospital room. It’s been two days since the accident; two days of sitting at Eren’s bedside, two days of watching the monitors, staring at them like intimidating them into doing what he wants them to do would actually work. Two days of endless nurses and doctors, of mumbled medical jargon Levi can’t wrap his head around, except for the most important part. That Eren is still alive, barely and probably kept that way by the machines usually whirring quietly in the background.

“What happened? What the hell’s going on?” Levi is fully alert now, his heart pounding a hard rhythm inside his ribcage.

“Someone get him out of here!” one of the nurses yells and Levi feels arms tug around him, feels Eren’s hand slip out of his grasp as they drag him away while medical personnel swarm around Eren in a frantic effort to stop the machines from their god-awful screeching.

When one of the doctors finally emerges through the waiting room doors, he gives Levi a somber look.

“Skip the bullshit,” Levi snaps, on his feet instantly. “Is he—?”

“His kidneys are failing. We thought we fixed the damage from the accident, but it doesn’t look like he’ll make it through without a donor.”

It takes a few seconds for the news to sink in, for the floor to swallow Levi whole. He barely hears the rest of what the doctor is saying before the doctor places a hand on his shoulder and tells him Eren is now stable enough for visitors.

Mikasa and Armin are already in the room when Levi enters. They’d flown in on the next available flight as soon as he’d called them, and truth be told, Levi is glad for the company even if it consists mostly of staring at Eren in collective silence. Carla and Grisha have also kept vigil over their son, though Levi had finally managed to convince them to get some rest and clean themselves up at his hotel a few hours before. Not exactly how he wanted to meet them in this life, he thinks sadly. Knowing Eren, he would’ve wanted to make a big deal out of it. Get everyone laughing together once they’d gotten past the awkward introductions.

The other two look just as wrecked as he feels, dark rings beneath their eyes and complexions a pale gray. They exchange brief glances before Mikasa says, “we’re going to get some coffee. You need anything?”

“Black, thanks,” he mutters before he takes his seat next to Eren and resumes his watch, fingers threading through Eren’s, motionless atop starched white sheets, as he bows his head and exhales. He waits for them to exit before he adds, “if you don’t wake up, I’m going to jump into whatever subconscious hellhole you’re in and drag your ass out. Do you understand me?” His chest tightens, eyelids stinging as memories flood him like a tide crashing against the wall Eren had begun to chip away. He sees a subtle movement and  almost convinces himself that Eren’s mouth had twitched in response. “So you better get the hell out of there because I didn’t wait centuries to fix us so you can fucking die on me now.”

He remembers Eren’s smile, the way he’d laughed, breathless, when Levi had asked him to stay. Remembers the bright light in his eyes when he told Levi it hadn’t been his fault, the cadence in his voice when he promised Levi he would stay with him always. Then the memories shift, takes Levi back, makes him remember why he stayed away for as long as he did.

Days later, after Eren’s family, Mikasa, and Armin had all been tested to see if they were donor matches, the doctor returns in the morning to check on Eren’s vitals and to give them the results. When the doctor shakes his head, expression somber, Levi stares at Eren’s face and squeezes his hand, decision made.

“Take mine.”

_I took your life once, kid._

“Do you understand what you’re asking us to do? The complications? You aren’t his family. You might want more time to consider.”

_Let me give it back._

“He doesn’t have time. And I know the risks. So did the rest of them, if they’d been matches. What the hell’s the difference?”

“The likelihood that you’ll be a match for him--”

“I owe it to the k--.” Levi pauses, jaw clenching and lips ghosting over Eren’s knuckles. “I owe it to Eren.” He turns his steeled gaze back to the doctor. “Run the goddamn tests.”

* * *

 

“You ready, Big Bro?” Isabel asks, holding his hand as they prepare him for surgery. “Everyone’s in the waiting room.”

Levi brushes her cheek, fingers coming away wet, and his fondness for her, though rarely shown, magnifies tenfold. “Tell those little shits you won’t get rid of me that easily.”

Isabel laughs through her tears. “You can tell them yourself once you kick this surgery’s ass.” She kisses the top of his head before he’s wheeled out of the room, Eren’s last words echoing in his head.

_“I love you, you know.”_

_Yeah,_ he thinks _, me, too._

* * *

 

When Levi wakes, he opens his eyes to an unfamiliar space. He’s disoriented, sore in places he doesn’t remember being sore in before he fell asleep, until he remembers that he hadn’t been asleep so much as he’d been put under.

“Hey,” a voice next to him says, vaguely familiar, but with the strange haze that’s clouding his current mental capacity, it takes him a minute to marry the voice to the face that materializes in front of him like a ghost out of his past.

Levi manages what he hopes would pass for a smile. “Hey,” he croaks, voice hoarse from disuse. “How long have I been out?”

“A few weeks.” There’s something sad behind the green eyes, a worry embedded there that Levi knows all too well. “Everyone was worried about you.”

With a pained grunt, Levi attempts to yank the oxygen mask off his face while simultaneously trying to sit up as much as the bed would let him. “They shouldn’t have been. I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

“You were always the strongest one to me.”

“Was this your plan all along? Wait for me to wake up so you can kill me with your sappy bullshit?”

Levi thinks to say something else, but Eren’s expression stops him cold.

“We thought you were a goner. When I woke up and they told me what you did--that there were complications--” Eren blinks and Levi recognizes the glossy sheen in his eyes. “You--”

“And I’d fucking do it again.”

They stare at each other for a few seconds before Eren manages a strained, “why?”

“You know why.”

“I thought I’d lost you again.”

“Never did, kid.”

“I--”

Eren doesn’t try to control it then. He slips into the small bed next to Levi, ignoring the wires still hooked up to the quietly humming machines and lack of space as he tries to fit his larger frame against him, face buried against Levi’s hospital gown. When Levi feels a damp spot on where Eren’s face rests, he turns his head, lips planting on Eren’s crown with a murmured, “takes more than this to keep me away from you.”

“Have I ever said that I liked waking up to you,” Eren asks, laughter hoarse and a little wet.

“Once or twice.” Levi breathes him in, stares at the dust motes streaming in from the light filtering through the window. “I like waking up to you, too.”

“That confession went horribly wrong.”

At this, Levi laughs, feels it entirely for the first time in a long time. “Understatement,” he manages with a wince, before he adds, “then again, the first time you confessed to me, you almost got killed leveling an entire city. I’d say you’re par for the course.”

“That’s a pretty crappy course.”

“Ended up with you, so I’m warming up to it.” Then he adds, “hey, Eren--”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr **[@limitlessmonster](http://limitlessmonster.tumblr.com)**


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